It should have been a Gins Weekend according to the draft programme and that is possibly why only two boats decided to race.  It was also a Bank Holiday weekend and rather late in the day.

The weather was cloudy but dry with a steady-ish north wind that the Met Office said was 8 mph (bottom of F3) at Kew Gardens.  After some discussion we decided on a long A-course but starting at Zoffany House.  The top mark was set at the Bell and Crown, well downstream of the Kew Bridge wind-shadow, with the bottom mark at the City Barge, and with a down-wind, against-the-tide start.

James Armitage (crewed by Emanuela) in the newest Enterprise afloat and Tim Wellburn (crewed by Emma) in the oldest, both decided to start on the far side of the PLA moorings where the wind was clearer than on the Strand side.  It was a run down to the bottom mark, with the usual diversions for capricious wind shifts, and a beat or a fine reach back, usually also on the far side of the PLA moorings, to make the turn at the top mark.  James led Tim by less than a minute at the first lap, even after Tim had taken the gamble of staying on the Strand side after his first Bell and Crown turn.  It almost looked as if the gamble would pay off, but he was caught by a mini doldrum at the downstream end of the moorings.  Thereafter both boats did what looked like a risky chicane after the top mark to catch the freer wind in the middle of the river.

James gradually increased his lead as the race progressed as Tim was seen to have problems with a newly-rigged kicker that lost him some headway.  James finished seven laps in 4 minutes over the hour and Tim completed 6 laps about 6 minutes later.

At the launch Andy Ross tentatively introduced Comma to the water after a two-year repair job and declared her watertight.  At well over 50 years old she is the oldest Enterprise in the Club (sail number 12,130), even older than Tim’s (sail number 19,286). When can we hope to see her sail?

Thanks to Mary Brown for officiating from Zoffany House, and thanks to David for company and heavy-lifting in the safety boat.

A dry, sunny, breezy Sundav aftemoon with a North Westerly wind predicted blowing 4 but gusting 14 knots. A ′′C′ course was programmed and was accompanied by a strong tide flowing through Kew Bridge.

5 Boats assembled on the foreshore, being reduced to 4 when Chris in Distant Thunder experienced a problem and decided to withdraw.

The 4 boats, Porpoise (Lev and David), Ait Knots (Tim), Envy (Ben) and Pacman (Jane) headed off early to Kew Bridge with the safety boat in attendance. All 4 boats passed through the Bridge without a problem.

As OOD, l set up on the towpath in amongst the trees with greatly restricted vision.

The race start was set at 14:40 and the boats had to suffer a long wait in a fast tide and fickle wind conditions. This resulted, when the wind dropped, in some boats getting swept over the start line.  The safetv boat assisted and brought some boats back over the start while others stemmed the tide.

The 6-minute start procedure commenced, but unfortunately 2min,15secs before the signal to start was given, the tide and/or the fleet decided to start, with confusion on the water. This resulted in all the boats being over the start-Iine before the two flags were lowered and the start whistle blown.

The only boat to stem the tide and tack back over the start line was Porpoise – Lev and David Iaughing as thev managed it.

Sam and Dave in the safety boat told me afterwards that the race continued up to the buoy off the London Apprentice pub but then haIted as the tide was so strong. I am toId a beer was taken.

As time marched on, the OOD, hidden in the tree-covered towpath, asked cyclists, runners and walkers with their dogs  ”have you seen any sails?”  “Sails?” they said – they thought l was mad.

Eventually a blue sail appeared through the trees. It was Lev and David in Porpoise, timed in at 87min,36 secs. The others (strictly speaking over the line at the start) were timed in as Ait Knots 92min,42; Envy 93min, 28sec and Pacman 96min, 5sec.  The Master of Sums, in keeping with SGSC tradition, agreed that their times should stand, with an addition of the 2min,15sec that they jumped the gun.  The charitable view was that they were confused by the strength of the tide, the invisibility of the OOD, and the urging-on of the safety boat.

A Iong day.   With thanks to Sam, Dave and guests in the safety boat.

OOD J.A.E.Bull.

Here are the results of Sunday’s race. I am assured that a report is on its way. Meanwhile, congratulations to Ben Chappell on a second successive win in the Handicap series.

Despite fair conditions and a good wind, only three boats opted to sail the long D course today. After a 15 minute delay, Ben Chappell on Envy and Chris and crew on Distant Thunder got off to a cracking start. They were followed by Ian on Vibe, who crossed the starting line three minutes later before rapidly moving to the shore to re-rig his spinnaker.
Rigging resolved, Vibe gave hot pursuit down the river, whereupon all three soon disappeared from view.

Thanks to the decent winds, however, Distant Thunder returned to cross the finishing line in a particularly speedy 1hr 13mins (barely enough time to sink two pints at the Bull’s Head), closely followed by Envy two minutes later. After a further six minutes, our Commodore valiantly brought up the rear.

Congratulations to Ben Chappell for his first handicap win at SGSC.

OOD: Jane Watkins

A spring tide, not much wind, rumbles of thunder, at least one heavy shower.  Six boats started a short “A” course from the Zoffany line.  OOD Steve Newell regretted later not starting from the Bell & Crown as the towpath gently flooded and the times of the later laps were recorded initially in ankle deep and finally calf deep water.  For reference it was predicted to be a 6.9m tide at London Bridge.

Fortunes fluctuated as the calms, eddies and occasional weak gusts triggered faint hopes and despair in almost equal measure.  The ever present fear of drifting too near the jaws of Kew Bridge eventually got the better of Tim who accepted assistance from safety boat driver Ian Nethersell but the other five kept going and all but Jane (3) completed four laps in rather more than an hour.

James was always at or near the front and was the first to cross the finish line and then immediately ordered his young crew to start paddling.  Chris made up for a poor start and was second to finish followed by the erratic Rob.

With the ramp well awash the safety boat was floated back into the arch and safely locked up for another week.

Steve Newell

A sunny afternoon with promising perspectives on wind, only two boats set off at low tide heading to Hammersmith Bridge.
James crewed by Ayanda sailing the Enterprise “Zephyr” and Chris crewed by Felicia sailing the Leader “Distant Thunder”.
 
Race started with Zephyr in the lead being over-taken by Distant Thunder only between Chiswick and Barnes bridges.
 
There were some nice gusts of wind coming and going, moments of good speed alternating with some floating with the current, combining great sailing with enjoyable sightseeing.
 
The boats made the turn at Chiswick Pier, 56min into the race. With the tide turning and a persistent state of no wind, reaching Hammersmith Bridge was not possible. Rounding a rowing buoy and heading back to the club, James took off and made the best of both the incoming current and the scattered gusts.
 
All in all, a brilliant Sunday ride along London waters!

Felicia Biekarck

(edited from an original report submitted by Andy Ross)

Following a well-attended and productive but hardworking work party to
restructure the storage racking in the morning brought hopes that the same
would be for the afternoon’s A course race which would incorporate the
annual Ladies Plate race.
This was unfortunately not to be as four boats, helmed by James, Ian, Chris
and Tim waited rigged on the foreshore for the forecast 9 knot northerly to
appear. The wait for our female contingent to arrive to contest their annual
trophy also proved fruitless as the prepared helms took to the water to
contest what would be a conventional points race.
The southerly wind, caressed the houses on the north bank which gave just
about enough for James to start first and creep along the bank – while leaving
the other three to limp backwards. The fickle wind eventually gave just
enough for them to creep past the start line to win the applause of a single
spectator, Tim, a former Corinthians sailor – who very generously thereupon
bought the OOD a pint. A well-earned result and thoroughly deserved.
After 10 minutes, Chris & Felicia followed James by two minutes on the first
lap followed by Tim after one minute and Ian who appeared to be flagging in
the very inconsistent wind.
James, in his usual position ahead of the fleet made a rare mistake by driving
into a mooring line holding a rubber dinghy to its buoy and came to a stop,
however, by his third lap he was a lap ahead of Chris & Felicia with both Ian
and Tim a lap behind them.
Ben, David and Leona confidently handled the safety boat and maintained a
vigilant watch over the fleet whilst being slightly distracted by the immense
bulk of a barge, with a long sloping stern like a 125-train heading backwards
for Kew bridge. Surely it was far too big to get under it? They sped off thinking
they could first call Lloyds of London – and then offer it a David and Goliath
rescue tow as it slipped through the bridge with barely inches to spare and
the fleet slowly crept past the finish line with James completing 7 laps, Chris
and Felicia on 6 and Tim and Ian both completing 5.
Thanks got to Andy for diligently performing OOD duties and Ben, Dave &
Leona for being a comforting presence in the safety boat.

Race Report
Showers during the day, a long course and a relatively late scheduled start time of 17.10 were probably reasons for only two dinghies launching: James, crewed by Ema, in the Enterprise “Zephyr” and Rob in his Laser “Phoebe”. After a close match-race start (see photo) beating towards Hammersmith on Course D, with a favourable ebbing tide, the pair soon disappeared beyond Chiswick Bridge, ably watched over by Tim and Dave in the safety boat. A gust in the blustery conditions saw Rob demonstrate his nimble recovery skills, “Phoebe” leading around the buoy (laid at 17:35, opposite the London Corinthian SC) passing it at 17:36 closely followed by “Zephyr” at 17:41, watched by Tim and Dave who noted that the tide appeared to be half-an-hour late turning. About an hour and three-quarters after the start the blue goose-winged sails, trimmed by James and Ema, appeared out of the grey with, soon after, the white sail of Phoebe and the yellow safety boat visible for the final stretch to the railway bridge finish line. “Zephyr” crossed 1hr:51mins:18secs after the start and “Phoebe” less than nine minutes later, precisely two hours and three seconds after the start, as the OOD – who had had ample time to prepare – took a photo, checked his new sailing watch, noted the time and blew the end-of-match whistle.
Nick Jeffery

Race Results

I found that I had omitted a few points last week, now corrected in the above. If anyone notices, I will explain and apologise. Best wishes, Nick Floyer

There was a feeble wind, nominally from the NE, meaning that the river was mostly sheltered by houses. The OOD controversially changed the course from an A, where there was no wind, to a B, where was just a little. Rob (Laser) and Lev (Enterprise) managed to cross the start line immediately despite the strongly flooding spring tide, and went on to complete their first lap in 17 minutes, at the end of which they were dead level.
Chris (Leader) and Jane (Gull) made several attempts to get started before a helpful puff took them over the line. Chris went on to complete his first lap, but Jane, having made it past the jetty, was swept back into it by the tide. She was rescued by the safety boat and retired. Ian (Vibe) found himself hemmed in and windless, and went home.
Fortunes changed on the second lap. While Lev went slowly but steadily ahead to finish first, Rob became becalmed and stuck; Chris caught up and briefly overtook him, and although Rob rounded the final mark on the inside and finished just ahead, Chris easily took second place on handicap.
Thanks to Sam and Dave in the safety boat, and to Nick’s family who supported him on the bank.
Nick Floyer

Race Results